Banks Water Department, OR
Lead detected, under the action levels
Latest 90th-percentile lead: 3.15 ppb (monitoring period 2024-2026). The federal action level is 15 ppb today and drops to 10 ppb in Nov 2027; EPA's health goal is 0. Lead was measured in sampled homes but the 90th percentile is under both action levels. EPA's health goal for lead is zero, so test your own tap if your home was built before 1986 or anyone in it is pregnant or a young child.
Who runs the water here
Banks Water Department serves about 2,070 people through 720 service connections, which makes it a small system under EPA's size classes. It is owned by a local government (city, town, county or district) and draws surface water, in Washington County, Oregon. EPA system ID: OR4100076; phone on file: 503-324-5112. Ask them for your address in their service line inventory - every system had to publish one by Oct 2024.
Every lead result on file
Against the period ending 2025 (3 ppb) the latest result is about the same. The highest 90th-percentile result EPA holds for Banks Water Department is 3.15 ppb across 8 monitoring periods, none of them over 15 ppb.
| Period ending | 90th-percentile lead |
|---|---|
| 2026 | 3.15 ppb |
| 2025 | 3 ppb |
| 2023 | 3 ppb |
| 2022 | 2 ppb |
| 2020 | 2 ppb |
| 2019 | 0 (not detected) |
| 2017 | 0 (not detected) |
| 2016 | 2 ppb |
How Banks Water Department compares
Of the 909 Oregon systems with a lead result, the median latest reading is 1 ppb; 15 are over 15 ppb right now and 71 have gone over at some point. Banks Water Department's 3.15 ppb sits at the 80th percentile in Oregon and the 84th nationally (higher means more lead).
Nearby utilities
28 other systems share Washington County; 7 of them have a higher latest lead result than Banks Water Department. If you are unsure which one supplies your house, the name on your water bill decides it.
| System | People | Latest lead |
|---|---|---|
| Tualatin Valley Water District | 224,600 | 5.3 ppb |
| Hillsboro, City Of | 92,632 | 0 (not detected) |
| Beaverton, City Of | 88,045 | 2.6 ppb |
| Tigard, City Of | 62,500 | 0.98 ppb |
| Tualatin, City Of | 28,106 | 4.93 ppb |
| Forest Grove, City Of | 26,838 | 3.6 ppb |
| Sherwood, City Of | 20,781 | 1.3 ppb |
| Cornelius, City Of | 14,490 | 0 (not detected) |
| West Slope Water District | 11,000 | 5.01 ppb |
| Raleigh Water District | 4,500 | 5.01 ppb |
Next steps for Banks, OR
Test your own tap with a certified lab first-draw sample; Banks, OR may offer free or low-cost kits through the utility. If your own line is lead, replacing the private side runs about $1,200-$12,300 (EPA average about $4,700). Ask Banks Water Department whether it covers that cost before hiring anyone - many utilities now do.
These figures describe homes the utility sampled, not your tap. Only your service line record or a test of your own water answers the question for your house. The lead result guide covers how utilities pick the homes they sample. Size matters more than most people expect: small vs large water systems.